


Makes the Heart Grow Colder

by BecauseFanfictionThough



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gotham, victor fries - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-06-01 21:23:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6536803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BecauseFanfictionThough/pseuds/BecauseFanfictionThough
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your car is hijacked by a stranger who looks like he expects winter to come at any moment, only to find that he's not such a stranger after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Makes the Heart Grow Colder

You didn’t know it was possible but traffic in Gotham was even worse than traffic in Central City. At least when you got a green light in Central City you were actually able to move your car. The light had been green for nearly fifteen seconds, horns around you were blaring, and nobody had moved an inch. You rolled down your window, trying to see what was going on when finally the cars started to inch forwards. Just as your foot switched from the break to the gas your car door was thrown open, causing you to gasp at the man leaning down into your car and slam back on the break. A horn behind you blared.

“Mind if I get a lift?” he asked. If the odd looking gun with some sort of blue cylinder jutting from the top of it was any indication, the question was rhetorical. Your heart was in your throat and you felt like you were edging close to a panic attack as he slid into your passenger side seat. He struggled a little, in his bulky gear that looked like an Antarctic soldier. He wore a cap on his head and a pair of large white goggles that made him look a little like a bug.

“Please,” you begged, on the verge of tears, “Just take my car and let me-“

A siren cut through the air and the man jabbed the front of his gun into your ribcage and bellowed, “There’s not time! Just go!”

You did as you were told, slamming on the gas pedal. The car jerked as it switched gears and quickly picked up speed. He instructed you to turn onto a side street, and you did. In hardly five minutes his instructions had brought the two of you away from the sirens and to the outskirts of Gotham.

“Drive into that field and kill the car,” your hijacker instructed firmly.

You, again, did as you were instructed, pulling the car off of the road and into a field of knee-high grass and weeds. You stopped the car about five yards from the road and turned off the engine.

“Please,” you began to plead again. “I have a job…“ you motioned to the STAR Labs Identification card dangling by a lanyard from your rearview mirror and the man grabbed onto it, looking at your name and picture. “I have two little girls. I-“

“Jesus Christ!” The man exclaimed, releasing the ID as if it had burned him. Shocked and confused with tears streaming down your face you stared at him, open mouthed and he went on. “________? Central University? Chem major?”

Your heart beat, if possible, even faster. Suddenly there was something familiar in this man’s voice. Something that filled your stomach with dread and still, somehow, felt soft in your ears. Your suspicions were confirmed when he pulled off his goggles and lowered his hood. The gun he had used to take you captive sat forgotten on the floor.

“V-Victor?” A panic attack was eminent. You could feel it.

Your chest was being constricted by an invisible hand and your brain was starting to feel fuzzy. As expected, out of nowhere your body forgot how to inhale properly. You were gasping desperately, your forehead now pressed against your steering wheel and hands gripping it tight enough you knew your knuckles must be white. As your face and your hands started to tingle in that all familiar way they did when your lungs forgot how to function you faintly heard the sound of the passenger door opening. A rush off cool air washed over you as the driver’s side door was opened.

Victor’s suit felt cold and metallic pressed against you as he leaned through the empty space behind you to access your seatbelt and undo it. You tried to swat him away from your body as he wrapped his arms around your torso to hoist you out of the car. You wanted to scream at him to let you go but you couldn’t find the air to do so with. Before you knew it he was seated on the ground beside your open car door and had you positioned between his legs which stretched straight out. His arms will still around your middle and his chin on your shoulder. His voice was soft in your ear.

“Breath, _____. Breathe. Slowly, come on. Breath with me.” He inhaled audibly, exaggerating what he was trying to do. Doing the same things he always used to do.

It was a good five minutes before you found a rhythm to your breathing and your ability to speak, but you did. Victor soothingly coaxed you through your episode and maybe even would have held you for a while afterwards if you hadn’t instantly broke yourself away from him. You scrambled along the ground on your hands and knees until you were far enough away to stand without him grabbing you.

“What the fuck, Victor? What the actual fuck are you doing? What the fuck are you wearing? I- Fuck!” You turned your back to him because if you weren’t careful you’d fall right back into another attack. Stupid anxiety disorder.

You could hear the grass rustling as he stood up behind you and approached you. You turned to face him while simultaneously starting to back away.

“________, listen to me, please. I can explain,” he said, his voice still so soothing somehow. Soothing enough that you let him explain- from a distance, of course. You mirrored his every step forwards her took, but in reverse.

He explained about Nora, and her disease, and his research. It was all fascinating but you couldn’t get over the fact that he was married now. That may have been the part that bothered you the most- even more than his human test subjects and failed experiments– even though it shouldn’t. You hadn’t even seen or spoken to him since college. So what was that stabbing feeling in your chest? That pang of jealousy over that tender look that shadowed his face every time he said his wife’s name: Nora. Why did the name fill you with disgust?

Because you still loved him, of course. Even when you met your late husband you’d known you still loved Victor. And perhaps that’s why you let his soft words ease you into a relaxed state. So relaxed, you found yourself letting him lead you back to the car and laying vertically on the hood of it with him like you used to.

You caught him up on your life, on Mark’s tragic car accident and on Elle and Vanessa who were eight and ten. He was quiet while you spoke, because he was listening, of course, but also as if he were deep in thought. You sat up, resting on your elbows and looking over at him. This was all so strange, and so sudden, and you were confused still to say the least. Your head was spinning. There were a million questions you could have asked in that moment but the one you settled on was, “Did you ever think about me? After you left for grad school?”

What you meant was “Did you ever feel like an asshole for completely cutting me out of your life when you got into Gotham University and I didn’t?”

  
The two of you met during Freshman orientation in Central City. After the walking tour of campus everyone took a half hour break for lunch, and you’d been sitting alone on a bench beneath a giant black willow tree eating an apple from the dining hall. Victor had waltzed right over to you and taken the seat beside you, a small cup in his hands.

“They have a freaking Dippin Dots here, do you believe it? That’s so weird,” he immediately started speaking, as if the two of you had known each other for years, even though you didn’t even know each others’ names. And he didn’t even ask your name, not that day. He just kept talking about his fancy ice cream. "They call it ‘futuristic’ ice cream but that’s just a gimmick, obviously. It’s funny how simple it is really. They’re just beads of normal ice cream that have been cryogenically frozen. I mean they-”

“They’re flash frozen as beads and that’s why they stay that way. I know,” you had smiled at him politely, questioning his sanity.

His smile was genuine, and carved deep into his face, and it widened after you spoke. You should have thought he was crazy, but that smile…it made you feel warm, somehow.

  
“_________?” His voice snapped you out of your memory.

“Hm?”

“I said of course I’ve thought about you. Plenty. You were the first girl I ever fell in love with, why would you think I never thought about you? You know what they say: ‘Distance makes the heart grow fonder.’”

“Yeah, well time makes it grow colder. You never even called. You said you would.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him. You stared straight ahead at the sun beginning to fall down below the horizon. The car shook a little as he sat up on fully. You could feel his gaze on you, it made you shiver.

“I was scared. Despite the panic attacks, and the social anxiety, you were smart. You were strong. You didn’t need me. I thought you’d just find someone else. And then I met Nora and- I’m sorry.” There was that name again: Nora. Even knowing she was deadly ill didn’t make you hate her any less. You couldn’t feel any pity towards her. Just jealousy. “I did miss you though,” Victor went on, “I want you to know that.” His hand found your thigh and once again you shivered. “You believe me, don’t you.”

You sat up straight like him now but he didn’t move his hand. You stared down at it. You did believe him. As much as you didn’t want to, you did. You looked up at him after a long moment and nodded. The edges of his lips curved upwards and he nodded back, ever so slightly. His eyes were so familiar to you, and the feeling creeping through your spine was too. You wanted to kiss him. You wanted to press your lips to his and feel his hand cradle your cheek. You wanted to snake your arms over his shoulder and press yourself to him like you were hoping you would just melt into him.

So you leaned forwards, eyes closing and lips slightly parted. But your lips never met his. His hands met your shoulders to stop you, and when your eyes opened the look in his eyes wasn’t happy anymore. He looked sad. He looked like he was pitying you.

You were the one being pitied when he was the one on a villainous rampage for some Gotham hussy who would probably die no matter what he did. She was doomed, and he was pathetic, and you felt like an absolute idiot for either of you ever thinking otherwise. You slid off the hood of your car now, circling around to the driver’s side.

“I’m supposed to be back to Central City by nine, and I’ve still got a four hour drive ahead of me. My mother and my girls will be worried sick, I have to go.” You climbed into your car and rolled down your window. You then leaned down to the passenger side floor and picked up Victor’s gun, tossing it out the window. It discharged when it hit the ground, luckily facing away from your car and turned a two foot patch of grass two feet of ice shards. “I hope you make it back to Nora safe.”

With that you started your car and began to pull out of the field as tears started to stream down your face. You would not lose control and start hyperventilating again. You would be strong, like Victor said you are, even though it seems nothing Victor ever said really mattered. You would be okay though. If you gave it time your heart would grow cold towards him once again.


End file.
